Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Just came back from a week-long vacation in Oahu. I had hoped to blog while I was over there to keep everyone updated, but didn't get an internet connection that was convenient to use plus I had a whole lots of fun stuff to do.

Took the usual "Circle Island Tour", toured the Arizona Memorial and Battleship Missouri, swammed and snorkeled at Kuhio Beach and Hanauma Bay, walked Waikiki Beach, ...etc. I didn't go to the Polynesian Cultural Center this time and again I didn't get a chance to hike up Diamond Head.

We sort of had an "oceanview" room if not for the two Hyatt towers in the way, but I guess I can't complain for the price we paid being only 2 blocks from the beach with a rooftop pool and jacuzzi.

Unfortunately, I had to go back to work and reality on Monday. I wished my co-workers wouldn't save a week's work for me to do when I returned. Those guys are just clueless without me.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

I just discovered tonight that Yahoo has started a digital time capsule. For 30 days from Oct. 10th until Nov. 8th, people can contribute stories, photos, videos, audio, and drawings. Plus you can see and read what other people have contributed and make comments...just like a blog. :) And, you also have a say on how $100K of Yahoo's money should be dispersed among 7 charitable organizations.

What could I contribute to this time capsule? Definitely lots of photos of family & friends, my dog, fun vacations, ...etc. If we could only preserve feelings...there would be those carefree times as a kid during summer vacation, being in love, hearing songs I loved as a teenager, euphoria when the 49ers won the 1981 NFC Championship with "The Catch" to go on to the Superbowl, excitement from graduating from high school to start life's journey, ...etc. This has got to be a mighty big capsule to bottle up all these feelings of mine. :P

If it's alright with you, I'll just leave out all my sad, angry, stressful, and embarrassing moments out of this.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

As you can see, I was at the Fleet Week festivities this weekend. I was able to take some fairly decent shots this year even though I was farther away from the action and with a shorter lens than last year. Go figure!

What irked me was this guy sitting to the right of me during the Blue Angels portion of the show pushed me on my leg and told me to move back (so he could have a better view.) I was there first and there were tons of people around him, but he only "informed" me that I was in his way. He could have easily stood up to get a better view as he was much taller than me. He eventually got up and made sure he blocked my view. Some people are so damn rude!

Then on Saturday, I spent practically my whole afternoon and part of my evening finishing a video editing assignment for an online class I'm taking from a local college. I learned today that the instructor gave me a 70 out of a 100 because I didn't follow instructions and went several assignements ahead. Geez, she should have given me at least a 90 for all the effort I put in. Since it's an online class, it's difficult to know exactly what the instructor wanted. Oh well, in the future, I'll just follow all the instructions and dumb down all my assignments.

Friday, October 06, 2006

As you can see, this was my day. Said 'good-bye' to my dog before I left for work, cooked my Healthy Choice Asiago Chicken Portobello lunch, took a picture of my office and tonight's 12% larger than normal full moon.

By the way, my lunch didn't look like much, but in actuality, it was pretty tasty.

Funny joke I heard today..."I have no Monet to put Degas to make the Van Gogh." But, seriously, the price of gas has really gone down around here. The lowest I've seen today was $2.37 per gallon. I thought I would never see those prices again. The most I've paid for a gallon of gas was $3.78 some time last year.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

I decided to skip my workout today since I have been to the gym 3 consecutive days. I don't know how some do it, but they practically live in the gym. I go about 4 to 5 times a week for 45 to 60 minutes each time. I used to go 3 times a week, but work out 90 minutes each time. The adopted new schedule is perfect for me.

I discovered a few new tools for my blog from fellow bloggers. One being slide.com for photo slideshows and the other is dailymotion.com for videos. I'm going to have to try it one of these days.

To my surprise, I noticed my blogger profile has over 7 views. Yippee! Feel free to leave comments. I tried to leave my first-ever comment, in this case on "sunshine4me.blogspot.com", but apparently since I'm using the beta Blogger, I could not leave comments on a non-beta Blogger post.

Had dinner with my SIL & BIL (in-laws) who just returned from Kona, HI. They had a great time swimming with dolphins and sea turtles for 45 minutes. But, for over $200 per person, I think I would skip that tour.

The rain has started falling in the Bay Area so autumn is here and winter is just around the corner. I have been so busy this year that I feel we skipped summer all together. When it rains, it means the dog will drag in mud and paw prints all over the house. Aaaargh! Luckily, we love him to death and put up with it. :)

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

I was able to find a very inexpensive Hawaiian vacation trip last week and I booked it for late October. I guess October is Hawaii's off-season so I was able to get roundtrip airfare plus 5 nights stay in a ocean view condo for under $600 per person on Orbitz.

I've attached a picture of the condo where we'll be staying. I have read some good things and some bad things about the place, so I guess we'll see in a few weeks.

Normally, the airfare alone would cost over $600, but I guess I lucked out. I was going to book it for November, but it was even less expensive in October and I figured my parents needed to get away. Yes, it'll be the 4 of us to Oahu. I was there in 1998, but my parents have never been to Hawaii except for stopping over at the airport.

I haven't gotten a chance to tell my boss or co-workers yet about yet another vacation I'm taking. I only have 2 days of vacation left so I'll take it without pay which is no biggie. I'm sure my co-workers will complain as I handle much of the paperwork in the office and when I'm not there, they will be lost and screw something up which I will have to fix when I come back.

On the other hand, if they complain too much and don't approve my vacation, I can always quit my job which I probably will do eventually. I have another vacation coming in late December and then again in late May. Not to mention all the small ones in between.